Method of making concrete piles



Julyh'lo, 19,23.'

G. G. PQWELL METHOD oF MAKING CONCRETE PILES 2 sheds-sheet 1 Filedl June'Z July 1o, 1923'. 1,461,451

l G. G; POWELL l .u METHOD oF MAKING CONCRETE PILES Filed Junev 1921 2sheets-snee*b 2 66mg@ Ewa/l Patented July 10, 1923.

unirse- STATES PATENT ortica.

GEORGE G. POWELL, OF YORK, Nl Y., SSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO IGNATIUS llVllcGrLONIE., OF JAMAICA,- NEW YORK.

l METHOD OF MAKING CONCRETE PILES.

To all whom t may concern.: n l

Be it known-that I GEORGE G. -POWELL citizen of the United States, andresident of 'the borough of Bronx, New York cit il? or the county ofBronx and State of New have -invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Method of Making Concrete Piles, of which thefollowing is a specification. I. y

This invention relates to improvements in the method of making concretepiles,

` Y caissons and the like with enlarged footings or enlar ements atother portions thereof'.`

The o ject of the invention comprlses 1mprovements in such a methodwhereby such enlarged footings or other enlargements for,-

piles of concrete and similar material .can easily and cheaplyw be madewhen the piles are located in soft or yielding soil and also when thefootings are to bear on the surface of rock or other hard substances.

.l The piles. producedlby thisl improved method obviate the necessity ofusing long and spliced piles in soft ound to obtain the requisiteskinvfriction or their support.

This improvedmethod obviates the neces'- sity of using vthe air lockmethod and the expensive equipment for compressed air and air locks andallows the use of short piles with great frictional resistancetomaintain loads thereon without displacement.

The organization of the invention comprises driving a casing into thesoil, and removing the soil from the interior thereof,

by the use of a water jet or other method. Then a4 tube with electricconductors is lo' ycated in the casing. A container with an explosive isattached to the 'lower end of the tube and tube with the container isforced below the bottomV end of the casing. @The casing is then filledwith liquid concrete and thereafter the explosive is exploded whichforms a cavity in the soilbelow the casing. After the explosion thegases in the cavity condense whereby the concrete in tl-iecasinglsaidcavity to4 form va purtenances;

Fig. 3- shows a view similar toFig. 2 with the casing thereof .filledwith concrete;

Fig. 4 indicates a sectional elevation similar toFig. '3 with 'a footingat its lower end; Fig. 5 shows a view similar to Fig. 4 with the casingfilled with concrete; Fig. 6 shows a sectional elevation similar vtoFig. 5 with-a modification; f

Fig. 7 shows another sectional modied elevation of a casing with itsappurtenances; e Fig.A 8 represents a sectional elevation of a casingdriven into its surrounding soi! with a plurality of conduits and theirappurtenances; Fig. 9 shows a view similar to` Fig. 8 with amodiication;'Fig. 10 is a top view of Fig. 9; F ig.; 11 'indicates asectional elevation of a plurality of .concrete piles connectedtogether; Fig.' 12 shows V'a section of Fig. 1l on the line l2, 12;Fig.v 13'sh0ws an elevation 'of a lbridge made of concrete piles,and-Fig. 14 is a section of Fig. 13on 'the line 14, 14, Y

container 26 is forced below the lower end ofthe casing in the s'oil21.Then, as indicated inF ig. .3 the casing 20 is filled with liquidconcrete 30. The next step consists in exploding the explosive in thecontainer 26 by means of asource of electric current for the conductor25,`to form cavity 33 below the bottom end of the casing 20 as shown inFig. 4. Upon the condensation of the gases in the cavity 33 the liquidcon-y crete 30 will flow into the said cavity33, and form the enlargedfooting 34, the upper level of the concrete inthe .casing 20 at the sametimeldescending. The next step is to fill the casing 2O with concrete toits upper is next allowed to harden. If it is desirable to remove thecasing 2O from the concrete pile it must be done before the concretehardens. The concrete pile with its `enlarged footing 34 is nowcomplete.

In Fi 6 a casing 40 is indicated which tapers ouwardly from its top toits bottom end and which has formed .therein the concrete.

end as indicated in Fig. 5, which concrete pile 41 with the enlargedfooting 42. The

' latter is supported on the bed ofrock 44.

larged'footing 42. In Fig. 7 is indicated a casing 50 which tapersinwardly from its top to its bottom endand which contains the concretepile 51 with the enlarged footin 52.

n Fig. 8 is indicated a casing 60 in the soil 21, with a plurality ofconduits 61, 62 and 63 with'their electric conductors 64 and theirrespective containers 66, 67 and 68 with explosives. In thismodification as previously described liquid concrete is poured intocasing 60 and then explosives in the containers 66, 67 and 68' areexploded. This will produce a cavity 69 at the bottom of the casing andbulge out said casings at the sides as indicated at 70. The liquidconcrete will then flow into said cavities and form an enlarged footingat the bottom of the pile and an enlargement at the sides thereof. Thecontainers with explosives in `the casing may also be located at variousother levels to form a plurality of enlargements at the sides of thepile at different levels'. If the casing 60 in this exemplification isto be removed it must be done after the footing is formed at the bottomof the pile and before the explosives in the containers 66 and 67 formthe bulged-out portions at' the sides of said pile.

In Figs. 9 and 10 a large casingor caisson is indicated at which isdriven linto the soil20 to near bed rock and a plurality of conduits 76with electric conductors 77 and containers 78 are lowered in saidcaisson 75 after the soil therein' has been removed. When the explosivesin the containers are exploded a large continuous footing is formed inthe cavity 79. In this instance the cavity 79 is partly formed in thebed rock 8() to make a clean and perfect contact for the footing.

In Figs. 11 and 12 an adaptation of the concrete piles is exemplifiedand in which'` Fig. 11 indicates Va side elevation of a plurality ofpiles 82 with enlarged footings 83 that make one continuous footing forthe piles, These piles are formed in theway already explained. A cap 84is supported on the piles 82. Fig. 12 shows a cross-section of Fig. 11on the line 12, 12.

In Figs. 13 and 14 another adaptation of the piles is indicated and inwhich Fig. 13 shows a sectional view of a stream with the piles and Fig.14 shows a section of Fig. 13 on the line 14, 14. The rock forming thechannel for the river is shown at and which has `supported thereon thesoft soil 91. A plurality of concrete piles 92 are formed with the stepsalready described which with their enlarged footings 93 form an arch inthe soil 91. A cap or roof 95 is located on the top ends of the concretepiles 92. i

'Having 1 The method of forming a concrete pile consisting in forcing acasing into the soil, I

describedl'iny invention what I V desire to secure by Letters Patent andclaim casing with liquid concrete, exploding thel explosive and therebyforming a cavity directly in the soil below the concrete in the casing,the concrete thereof flowing into said cavity to form an enlargedfooting'for the pile, the concrete lowering in the Casin and thenfilling the casing with additiona concrete. -v n,

3. The method of forming a concrete pile with an enlarged footing andbulged out portions at the sides thereof, consisting inl l forcing a'casing into soil, removing the vsoil. from the interior of thecasing,locati1:lga y plurality of conduits each with electriocoi1` iductors and a containelrat the lower endin the casing, some of saidcontainers suspended between the top and bottom ends-.of the casing andsome in the soil belowthe bottom end of the casing, filling the casingwith liquid concrete, exploding the explo'e' sives in the containers toform a'cavity. beilow the casing and bulge the latter 'at'the 'no' sidesthereof, the said concrete after the ex plosion flowing into said cavityto f0rm` 'a4 footing and flowing in the bulged portions of the casing toform enlargements at the side ofthe pile, the liquid concrete loweringin the casing as a result of the explosion and then filling the casingwith additional liquid concrete.

4. The method of forming a -large concrete pile by forcing a caissoninto soil, re-

caisson, lowering a plurality of conduits each with electric conductorsand a container with an explosiveat its lower end into the caissonforcing the conduits with the con tainers in the soil below the bottom`end of moving the soil from the interior lof the '120"- the caisson,filling the caisson with liquid' concrete4 and exploding the explosivesin the containers to form a plurality of cavities atthe lower end of thecaisson, the liquid concrete iiowing into the cavities forming .an

`enlarged footing for. the pile and then.' filling the caisson withconcrete up toitsA upper level. i A

5. The method of forming a plurality nof concrete piles with 'theirfootin'gs forming a suppor'tingwall consisting Iin forcing a. plu#rality of casings adjacent to each other in the soil, removing the soilfrom the interior of euch casing, lowering. a. conduit with electricconductors and va container et the bottom end of each conduit in each'casing,

forcing the lower end of each conduit with the container in thesoilbelow the bottoni ties to forme-supportingwall by reasonvof the footingsformed becoming connected -to each other.

Signed at the borough of Manhattany'icit'y of New York in the county ofNew York andState of New York this 3d day of June, A. AD; 1921. l

GEORGE e. POWELL,

